Red palm weevil wreaks havoc

Los Barrios vs. Red Palm Weevil

LOS BARRIOS (Agencies) The municipal Department of Parks & Gardens has detected a doubling of the red palm weevil incidence in a year. The menace that kills palm trees is causing havoc all over the area. In Los Barrios, it is the Botanical Gardes that have suffered the most. Over twenty palm trees of various species were destroyed last year, compared to less than ten in previous years. Experts have said that the principal reason is the lack of treatment to infested trees in private gardens. Indeed, the Santa Rosa section, very close to the Botanical Garden, is the centre of infestation since the scourge began. The same sources say that any battle against the weevil is useless unless there is coordiation between public and private gardens, even between municipalities.>

The main square in Algeciras, Plaza Alta, lost all the palms, one by one last year, that for many years were the pride of that singular location. San Roque is losing some of its magnificent Royal Palms and other municipalities are suffering the plague as well.

Private gardens throughout the Campo, and many other places, show the depressing sight of withered, dried out palm leaves falling from the crest of what had until recently been a splendid tree.

The main square in Algeciras, PLaza Alta, has lost all its magnificent Royal Palms, for many years the guardians of that singular square in ranks around the edge. In Sotogrande, with many empty plots and private gardens sporting palms, as well as streets where extremely tall species are difficult to maintain, many palms have succumbed to the plague, and more are expected to fall. San Roque, La Línea and Castellar, as well as Tarifa, are suffering the attack.

In Jimena, a reader of this site discovered a Red Palm Weevil some way from the village. He attempted to report his discovery to the town hall but nobody was interested. The palms in Jimena are being decimated as we write.

The effects of the weevil are immediate.

Once inside the palm, the insect stays there and does not leave until there is no nourishment left, whereupon it 'flies' to the next tree. Its larvae stay behind to breed more weevilsTreatment is difficult and expensive. And there is no guarantee of success, as many gardeners will tell you. Prevention, or at a very early stage of development, is often pulverization of the crest (about €35 per application, at least one per quarter as a minimum), to 'injections' of chemicals (photo, left) that are necessary at least four times a year, at a cost over €300 per tree.

One municipal gardener says that the absence of treatment on private property is one of the main causes for the plague to spreads throughout.